Open AccessContinuous effects of bilingualism and attention on Flanker task performance
Author(s) -
Ashley Chung-Fat-Yim,
Geoffrey B. Sorge,
Ellen Bialystok
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
bilingualism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.471
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1469-1841
pISSN - 1366-7289
DOI - 10.1017/s1366728920000036
Subject(s) - neuroscience of multilingualism , psychology , task (project management) , affect (linguistics) , selective attention , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , cognition , communication , neuroscience , economics , management
Both bilingualism and attention contribute to the development of executive functioning (EF), with higher levels of both leading to better outcomes. The present study treats bilingualism and attention as continuous variables to investigate their impact on EF. Eighty-two 9-year-olds who were attending a French school in an anglophone community completed a flanker task. Children's progress in French represented their level of bilingualism, and attention was assessed through a standard standardized instrument. Degree of bilingualism and degree of attention were both positively related to performance, but exposure to a third language in the home did not further affect outcomes.